[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36742-36743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14843]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3253-015]


Mad River Power Associates; Notice of Application Ready for 
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms 
and Conditions, and Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

    a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 3253-015.
    c. Date Filed: November 3, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Mad River Power Associates (MRPA).
    e. Name of Project: Campton Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On the Mad River in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The 
project occupies approximately 0.05 acre of federal land administered 
by the U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Ian Clark, Mad River Power Associates, 1 
Pepsi Way, Suite 6n75, Katonah, NY 10536; Phone at (914) 297-7645, or 
email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Amanda Gill, (202) 502-6773 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions, and prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this 
notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this 
notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at 
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. You must include your 
name and contact information at the end of your comments. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a

[[Page 36743]]

paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be 
addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly 
D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins 
Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should 
include docket number P-3253-015.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors filing 
documents with the Commission to serve a copy of that document on each 
person on the official service list for the project. Further, if an 
intervenor files comments or documents with the Commission relating to 
the merits of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a 
particular resource agency, they must also serve a copy of the document 
on that resource agency.
    k. This application has been accepted and is ready for 
environmental analysis at this time.
    The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule on 
July 15, 2020, revising the regulations under 40 CFR parts 1500-1518 
that federal agencies use to implement the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) (see Update to the Regulations Implementing the 
Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 85 FR 
43,304). The Final Rule became effective on and applies to any NEPA 
process begun after September 14, 2020. Commission staff intends to 
conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. Project Description: The project consists of: (1) A 22-foot-
wide, 24-foot-high concrete intake structure located approximately 60 
feet upstream of the U.S. Forest Service's Campton Dam on the east 
shoreline of the U.S. Forest Service's Campton Pond, that includes a 
25-foot-long,13-foot-high trashrack with 1.75-inch clear bar spacing; 
(2) a 600-foot-long, 78-inch-diameter underground steel penstock that 
trifurcates into three 48-inch-diameter sections measuring 20 feet, 30 
feet, and 43 feet in length, respectively; (3) a 43-foot-long, 30-foot-
wide powerhouse located on the east side of the Mad River that contains 
a 167-kW Francis turbine-generator unit; (4) two 236-kW submersible 
Flygt turbine-generator units located outside of the powerhouse; (5) an 
approximately 55-foot-long, 40-foot-wide tailrace; (6) a 200-foot-long 
transmission line and a 33.5-kilovolt transformer that connects the 
generators to the electric grid; (7) an Atlantic salmon smolt bypass 
facility consisting of an 85-foot-long, 20-inch diameter cast iron pipe 
that empties into an 3.5-foot-deep plunge pool approximately 15 feet 
downstream of the dam; and (8) appurtenant facilities. The project 
creates an approximately 600-foot-long bypassed reach of the Mad River.
    The current license requires: (1) Inflow to be discharged over the 
spillway to the bypassed reach during periods of non-generation or when 
inflow is less than 25 cfs; (2) a minimum flow of 4.5 cfs through the 
Atlantic salmon smolt bypass facility during periods of generation or 
when inflow is greater than 25 cfs; and (3) operation of the smolt 
bypass facility from mid-April to mid-June. The average annual 
generation of the project is currently approximately 1,170 megawatt-
hours (MWh).
    MRPA proposes to: (1) Continue operating the project in a run-of-
release mode; (2) replace one of the 236-kW Flygt turbine-generator 
units with a new 340-kW Flygt turbine-generator unit, for a total 
installed capacity of 743 kW at the project; (2) release a minimum flow 
of 29 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, over the dam to the bypassed 
reach; and (3) close the existing smolt bypass facility. MRPA estimates 
that the average annual generation of the proposed project will be 
approximately 1,900 MWh.
    m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's 
website at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the 
docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number 
field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    All filings must: (1) Bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or ``PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the 
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone 
number of the person submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply 
with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions must 
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the 
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the 
application directly from the applicant. Each filing must be 
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service 
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    You may also register online at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to be notified via email of new filings and issuances related 
to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    n. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date 
of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality 
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including 
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; 
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note 
that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b), 
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted 
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the 
certification request. Please also note that the certification request 
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission 
concurrently.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Deadline for filing comments,            September 2021.
 recommendations, preliminary terms and
 conditions, and preliminary fishway
 prescriptions.
Deadline for filing reply comments.....  October 2021.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: July 7, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-14843 Filed 7-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P